Republican National Convention selection committee members will check out Cincinnati April 29.

Cincinnati is one of six cities on the short list to host the 2016 Republican National Convention. Also in consideration: Las Vegas, Dallas, Phoenix, Kansas City, and Cleveland; the Cleveland visit will be the group's last, the day after visiting Cincinnati.

Small teams of RNC staff and advisers are seeking additional information about each city and their bid ahead of determining which cities will receive official site visits from the full RNC delegation.

By May, cities will know which ones will receive official visits. Those will happen in late May and early June. The choice will be announced later this summer.

"We've entered the next phase of the site selection process with all cities on an even playing field – there are no favorites, there are no underdogs," RNC Site Selection Chair Enid Mickelsen said in a press release announcing the visit.

Cincinnati has not hosted a convention for 136 years. The host committee is pitching Cincinnati based on it's Tri-state location and how much Southwest Ohio votes mean to the Republican nominee.

Convention watchers say only one thing matters when it comes to picking a city: raising the $50 million to $55 million the RNC requires of the host city. That money goes to the RNC, which in turn uses the money for convention costs.

What's next

May 6 to May 10 – The site selection committee meets at the RNC Spring Meeting in Memphis, TN to review reports from techical visits. No announcement is expected.

Mid May – The RNC site selection committee will narrow the short list via vote. The remaining cities will determine which cities get official site visits from the full committee.

Late May/June – The full RNC site selection committee and RNC delegation will make official city visits.

June/July/August – Further cuts are possible; initial negotiations with final city or cities to begin.

Late Summer/fall – Final convention city will be voted on by the full RNC governing body.